Let's Make a Deal II

Posted on Mon Feb 12th, 2024 @ 8:43am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov

Mission: S1 Episode 7: Prime Factors
Location: L'hur, Sikaris
Timeline: Date 2371-09-11 at 2000
5031 words - 10.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Andrei leaned over and looked at the crystal intently. His mechanical eye settled on it and he searched the gem inside. He would no doubt be able to see anything Garit was referring to.

“Flaws? Show me.” Andrei said leaning into Lyra’s space just a bit and placing his arm around the back of his chair, “I find the whole thing quite fascinating.”

Silently, Andrei wondered what kind of imperfections the crystal might have after he bounced it off of Ito’s head.

Unknowing of the capabilities of Andrei’s eye, Ito leaned into Lyra’s space as well. Unconsciously he took a deep breath and a slight smile tugged at his lips, remaining there as he held up the crystal and device to look at it for the Terran man. “Look closely and you can see here that there is an inclusion of diamond running through the stone here and in the lower area, there is a split of color between lighter and darker as well as a small fracture.”

Andrei had helped his father sell the other ones they had in their possession and had also been present when the crystals were broken down and turned into chips for smaller units of currency. He had spent quite a lot of time studying the gems and learning the trade and processes.

“Forgive my ignorance, Garit, but aren’t these crystals and gems cut up and repaired all the time? I’d heard that their value didn’t depreciate unless there were serious flaws. Minor ones are easily fixed, are they not?”

It was hard to bullshit a bullshitter, and Andrei would know.

“Yes and no.” The man replied, completely at ease. “The process you are referring to I believe is when these gems are converted to be used for currency, decoration, or for further refinement into power sources for some ships. In that process flaws are not as much of an issue, correct, but the gems are - usually but not always - valued less than what I, a jeweler, would value them.” He paused and regarded the crystal in his hand a moment.

“A crystal of this size for that process would likely be worth just under 4 million credits. Inclusions do bring it down even for that process given the labor that must be done to remove the invading, unwanted minerals. It is rather silly to me, but I don’t partake of that particular process.”

“So, are you saying it’s valued at 4.3 million credits or just under 4 million?” Andrei asked with a frown. This was the smallest of the three the two of them had, but he wanted to see Ito’s appraisal for it before he showed him the others.

“I am saying that I value it at 4.3 million as a jeweler. If you were to take it to one of those men who grind these into chips, they would value it just under 4.” Garit clarified again.

“Fine.” Andrei said with an arching of his eyebrows. He pressed another few buttons on his remote and another one materialized. It was larger and more perfect than the first. Andrei slid it toward Garit with another smile.

Garit placed the first gem down carefully and then picked up the larger one, repeating the process of looking as he had with the first. He smiled and pulled his eye away, then looked at Lyra. “Would you like to see?”

“Of course.” Lyra gave a small smile. Garit lifted the device and crystal up to her face at eye level and placed his other hand on her back just below her neck to coax her into leaning forward. She looked into the device for a moment and then pulled back; his hand remained on her.

“Beautiful.” She said quietly.

“Yes, this one is quite lovely.” Garit agreed, leaning close to her. “It is quite clear and its facets are rather uniform for a natural formation. The small inclusions on the tips actually enhance this one, not detract. It will be a fine piece of jewelry.”

“That’s great to hear.” Andrei said with a smile, pretending, again, either not to notice or not to mind Garit’s hand on her back. In his heart, that animal instinct to guard her jealously pulsed, but he forced it down, and put on a convincing act. “Do you have any thoughts on its value?”

“Mm? Oh yes of course.” Garit chuckled and seemed to realize he had been slowly leaning closer and closer to Lyra. He sat back and this time took his hand with him. “This one I would value around six and three-quarters.”

That was more than Andrei expected, so he didn’t have to feign surprise too heavily. He smiled.

“Really? That’s excellent news, isn’t it, Lyra?”

“Mm…” Lyra pursed her lips and then let out a feminine sigh, her eyelids lowering just slightly as if she were disappointed.

“Is something wrong, my love?” Andrei asked, leaning forward in an almost submissive way. He raised his hand to her face and stroked it gently.

Lyra leaned her cheek into his hand just briefly and then kissed his palm before sighing again. “Nothing, darling. I just thought it would be worth more. It is one of my favorite ones after all. You know I like that color.”

“Ah well. Let me look again.” Garit said hastily and made a show of lifting up the crystal again, holding it for a few seconds, and then looking at Lyra. “Seven million?”

Lyra’s expression turned into a bright smile then. “Really? How wonderful.”

Andrei forced back a laugh. What a ridiculous man Garit was showing himself to be. He would give millions just to make her smile. Then again, he had millions, and what he didn’t have was the warmth between her legs. A rich man paid for what he wanted. A strong man, like Andrei, took it. At this rate, he would soon be both.

“You must be a very wealthy man, indeed.” Andrei said, stroking the man’s ego a bit. It seemed speeding him along toward his destruction was the right thing to do.

Garit was enraptured by Lyra’s smile though his eyes had drifted downward again. He almost didn’t catch what Andrei had said, but reluctantly moved his eyes to the other man in the end. “Of course I am. I am Garit Ito.”

He spoke in a matter of fact way, then looked at Lyra again. “Now, you say you have a third crystal?”

“We do.” Andrei said, picking up his remote again and pressing another series of buttons. The last one appeared, bigger than the last one and of a perfect quality. The gem inside was emerald green and the crystal around it was as clear as water or glass. Andrei slid it in front of Lyra, which was halfway between the men. “I hardly want to part with this one. I can’t imagine what it would sell for back in the Empire, where they’ve never seen anything like it at all.”

Before Garit picked it up, Lyra intercepted it and lifted it daintily between two fingers and inspected it herself. “Perhaps I should guess?”

She looked between both men this time, playing up a bit of airheadedness that men like Garit drank like wine - they liked their women beautiful and with enough intelligence to carry a conversation, but not enough to actually know anything of substance. “We can make a game of it.”

Garit grinned and leaned in, placing his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. “What a wonderful idea.”

“A bit of fun never hurt anyone.” Andrei said with a smile, looking at Garit and knowing he wouldn’t get any attention back. It was all a part of the game. Typically, he hated being ignored, but he knew this couldn’t be helped now.

Lyra smiled brightly as they both agreed, able to put forward the bubbly act more appropriate for someone like Mika without any real effort. She took a long look at the crystal as if she were closely inspecting it.

“Ten million.” She declared.

Garit chuckled in the way one would when finding something stupid, but cute. “Well, we’ll see about that won’t we. He took the crystal from her and began to inspect it.

Lyra lifted her glass and took a long drink.

“Why not thirteen million?” Andrei asked with a laugh, as if he was having fun. He had put on many masks in his life, but this one he hated the most.

“Well now we want to be reasonable.” Garit chuckled though was far less amused by Andrei’s input than Lyra’s. It wasn’t particularly surprising, with each passing moment Garit gave the impression that Lyra too was part of the bartering process.

“This one is quite unique. I haven’t seen a specimen so close to perfect in a very long time. The color is rather strange, but I quite like it. For this I would give you eleven million.” He looked at Lyra instantly and brought his thumb and forefinger up to her chin in a brief touch. “So you win, my dear, you were closer.”

Lyra’s hand twitched slightly on Andrei’s thigh, but she giggled appropriately.

Andrei shared the twitch, his hand going, for a moment, to his suit jacket to grab the hilt of his sword. He closed his eyes, moving his hand back to Lyra’s.

“That’s quite the sum too.” He said, clearing his throat. He reached for the drink the Sikarian man had provided and drank of it deeply. “Now, we should talk about the rest of our arrangement, but first..where is the food?”

As if on cue, three waiters walked in with their first course, a set of what looked like three small stuffed mushrooms.

“This looks quite good.” Lyra smiled and pulled her plate just a bit closer.

“Yes, I hope you all enjoy. This is the first of seven courses.” Garit’s voice was full of pomp now.

“Well, we wanted to sample your cuisine. It looks like we’ll have a good chance.” Andrei said with an eye to Garit. “Let’s begin then; I’m starved.”

They set to their meal together then with Garit doing most of the talking, explaining dishes or responding to Lyra’s polite inquiries about his life or work; like most Sikarians, he loved stories - he especially seemed to love stories where he served as the main character. They learned that a seven course Sikarian menu had very much the same elements of a Terran one, though they were a bit jumbled in their order. After their appetizers, a light clear soup flavored with herbs that struck a passing familiarity with citrus and fennel for Andrei and Lyra was served. Then came a small portion of fluffy sauce covered noodles where the sauce was a mildly off putting yellow shade but turned out to be quite good with a silky mouthfeel.

After a small break, a plate of obsidian fleshed poultry with a small topping of cheese that was served on a bed of some sort of fruit and vegetable slaw was placed before them. Likely, this was the smalnr that Andrei had taken note of earlier. After that followed a salad with a sweet, tangy dressing and an assortment of their native leafy greens and vegetables. Their final course, much to their enjoyment, was something equivalent to a fine rich steak served with roasted root vegetables and a delectable buttery sauce.

In truth, everything had been delicious and enjoyable despite being alien. They had sat back to enjoy their drinks and another break before the final course of dessert was brought out.

“So, did you both enjoy?” Garit asked with a self-assured smile.

Andrei rested his hand in his belly and gave a grinning nod at Garit. He had enjoyed most of it, except whatever dressing went on the salad. There was something about the taste that turned his stomach a bit. He had, however, rated it with polite exuberance as if it was as good as the rest.

“Oh, it was wonderful. I’m considering the benefits of staying here on this world after this meal. A ten times better than what we’ve found in other worlds.” He said in an amiable tone.

“Yes, it has been a long time since I have had anything quite this good.” Lyra agreed with a smile. “I’m looking forward to dessert. I have a bit of a sweet tooth.”

“Ah I’m sure you do.” Garit chuckled and looked at her. “Though for now, perhaps it is time to resume business?”

“Yes, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.” Andrei said, pulling out his remote again and placing it on the table. Within a split second, a powerful red light was emitted from the device and projected a starmap of the quadrant. It showed the stars in their explored category, and it made it very clear how very little they had seen.

“The planet which provided us with these, and many more crystals can easily be shown to you.” Andrei said, placing a hand on the back of Lyra’s chair. “It was quite a find, and changed our forces.”

“Interesting, you really haven’t seen much of this area, have you?” Garit mused and leaned in closer to the map, not caring he was invading Lyra’s space to do so. “Some of this is inaccurate. The maps I can provide you will be and will perhaps hasten your journey home by allowing you to plot a more accurate route.”

“The margins are extrapolations from our stellar cartography department. We don’t put a lot of stock in exploration, and have mostly plotted in a straight line.” Andrei said with a nod. “Our…gathered friends have helped us map a course, but this chart ignores the..extraneous details. I’m sure you have some information we could use, however.”

“Of course, of course. Though I would say do not ignore the pleasures other worlds have to offer. Even the weary travelers need rest.” Garit offered.

“So true.” Lyra agreed and the Sikarian man immediately sat up a bit straighter.


From his side he produced his own Sikarian style PADD and offered it to Andrei. “A list of charts, trade routes, merchants, and other things of interest I have to add to my offer in exchange for your information.”

It was an impressive list, really, though how much it meant wasn’t easily determined given they weren’t familiar with the quadrant. Up until this point however it seemed Garit was genuinely trying to work with them and he hadn’t given indication otherwise.

Andrei looked the through the information they were given, reading some of the more flashy details and opening attached files to see how much is there. He whistled loudly, thumbing through.

“This could be useful for years to come. We have the resources to expand our stellar cartography. We can even improve upon this database.”

“Wonderful, wonderful. Now, I did have a starting figure in mind for the information regarding the location of the crystal planet.” He offered another PADD to Andrei that had said figure highlighted - four hundred million credits. “Of course I am open to negotiation.”

Andrei slid it to Lyra, making it so she could see the sum presented in front of her. He noticed Garit had cut her out of this part. It might be because he assumed she didn’t have a mind for business, or it might be because he was attempting to be objective.

“A strong starting offer, I think.” He said under his breath, but still audible.

Lyra picked up the PADD to look at it, immediately appreciative of Andrei directly including her. She had suspected that Garit would do exactly what he had done when the “real business” started; she was glad her love was not of the same mind. Her hand found his leg under the table again, the weight gentle and her skin warm.

“Yes, though he can do better I’m sure.” She returned quietly.

“I thought so too.” Andrei said, and then turned his gaze back to the Sikarian man with a charming smile. “Garit, this deal will make you one of the richest men in this quadrant; certainly the wealthiest on Sikaris. How about…”

Andrei took the device back and typed a new number in, and then slid it toward Garit. It said eight-hundred-million credits in gold lettering.

Garit took it back, looked at the number and his smile became mildly more strained though it remained. He erased the number and put in a new one - five hundred seventy-five million - and handed it back to Andrei.

Andrei looked at the PADD and seemed even more strained than Garit had. He sucked air in through his teeth, as if he were being asked to do something impossible. Then he slid the PADD to Lyra and shook his head.

Lyra frowned at the number in the same way she had about the crystal earlier. She slid the PADD back to Garit and offered a small, feminine shake of her head. “No… what we have is much too valuable.”

“Mmm… very well six hundred fifty?” Garit asked.

Lyra looked past the Sikarian and noticed they were bringing dessert out. She turned her head toward Andrei and spoke, this time in his native tongue. “YA uveren, dorogaya, chto ya smogu zastavit' yego dat' nam bol'she, khotya nikomu iz nas ne ponravitsya to, chto nuzhno budet sdelat'. Pover'te mne?”

“Da. No poluchite gorazdo bol'she.” he said, saying as few words as possible so his translation device wouldn’t be able to do its work.

Lyra turned her attention fully to Garit then, her smile appearing again and giving a pointed blink of her eyes. “Oh I see dessert is coming. Let’s pause all this business talk and have something sweet.”

At first, Garit seemed mildly annoyed and then sighed, shaking his head and smiling. “Yes, why don’t we.”

The servers brought over what looked like a small assortment of all of the desserts from the restaurant on one platter for them to pick at and share. Perfect. Lyra leaned closer to them with an almost childlike interest. “They’re so pretty.”

She looked to Garit again, shifting in a way that more pointedly presented her breasts and gave the impression she was giving the rich man her full attention. “Which one should we start with?”

“Well, I like this one.” Garit used the small serving spatula to lift a green colored square cake piece off of the tray and move it to the dessert plate in front of him. “It is a noran berry cake. This reminds me of my mother’s recipe.”

“Are you and your mother close?” Lyra asked with perfect interest.

“We were, yes,” Garit picked up his fork, “but she died four years ago.”

“Oh.” Her dark eyes filled with sympathy and she reached her hand over, placing it on Garit’s forearm. “I’m so sorry.”

Andrei saw the touch, and it turned his stomach with anger. Feeling slightly mad from seeing it, he stood up and frowned.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to visit the restroom. I think something in a previous course didn’t agree with my stomach.”

He stood and moved swiftly, almost resentfully, from the room. He was gone in an instant, leaving the two of them completely alone.

Lyra didn’t show her annoyance at him leaving and she supposed on some level she understood it even though she had warned him. She did do him the courtesy of watching him leave with a concerned expression on her face, then turned her attention back to Garit. “I’m sure it is nothing. Now… these desserts…”

Garit spent the next five minutes regaling her with information about each selection, they were sitting in a close, conspiratorial fashion and tasting each in turn. By the time Andrei returned, they were laughing together and looking like they were having a great time. Lyra’s body was angled toward Garit and he was very obviously enjoying his current position given where the heat was concentrated in his body.

“Ah, you’re back. Are you feeling better?” Garit asked on seeing Andrei.

“Much.” Andrei said with a tight smile. He resumed his seat and started to look over the deserts with false interest. He pulled one to his mouth and tasted it. “You two seem to be keeping each other entertained while I was gone.”

“Oh yes, Lyra has been quite the conversationalist.” Garit replied though his eyes were firmly on the woman and it was abundantly clear exactly what he was thinking about.

“Oh no,” Lyra demurred and smiled in a shy way, “I could never really match you.”

“Mm…” Garit hummed, neither agreeing or disagreeing outright.

“But now that we have had our sweets,” She slid the PADD over to the man again, her eyes widening slightly and her expression morphing into a feminine pout, “surely we can do better than this. Remember… we are so far from home, I would be so grateful for your generosity.” She batted her eyelashes once and then let her gaze lid. “So very grateful that you made the journey home just that much more comfortable.”

Besides fantasizing about making Garit’s wander eyes a permanent feature of the back of his own head, Andrei listened and generally kept out of the way. The only thing more he could do would be to present a sign which said, “fuck girlfriend for money” over Lyra’s head.

Garit was enraptured and hopeful and found himself naturally leaning in toward Lyra. “Seven hundred and fifty million?”

Lyra leaned in closer, her face very close to Garit’s and her dark eyes intense. “Seven and seventy-five.”

The Sikarian’s head tilted to the side just slightly. “Done.”

“Wonderful.” Lyra pulled back so abruptly he nearly fell face first into her chest. “Now that with all of your information… I’m sure you have a contract that needs signing and then we can celebrate?”

“Ah er… yes.” Garit righted himself and smoothed out the front of his jacket, picking up the PADD again to make the adjustments while clearly flustered.

“There’s so much to celebrate, Garit. This money will be nothing to you once you get to the planet. “Andrei said, grinning and touching Lyra’s leg under the table. He knew what she had just done took a great deal of self control on her end.

“Yes, yes.” Garit replied, now clearly in a bit of a hurry to move on to other things. He returned the PADD and this time placed it down between Andrei and Lyra so they could both review and sign what he already had done so. “Once you sign this and give details to where the transfer of the credits and information should go, it will be uploaded and carried out immediately.”

“The information should be sent to our science department on Vengeance. The money, on the other hand, to this bank account number.” Andrei said, sliding a number to a Sikarian bank account. Putting it in the ship credit database wouldn’t do at all. Andrei reviewed the information, and when he was satisfied, he pulled out the stylus and signed his name.

Garit was watching them with interest and his brows lifted at the account number. “A Sikarian account? I thought you were leaving.”

Lyra looked at Garit and smiled as Andrei signed his name. “We are. Nothing to worry about, we simply have a number of places to transfer it to and figured this would be the easiest way instead of putting that burden on you.” It was a complete and utter lie, but nothing about her showed that to be true, not even the heat of her body.

“Oh, well that’s very thoughtful.” The man mused.

Once Andrei was finished, Lyra took the stylus from him and signed her own name in flowing, beautiful script. “There… I think we are all set?”

Garit took the PADD again, reviewed it, and then pressed a button on it. “Yes, we are. The deal has been recorded, uploaded, and the transfer of credits will begin immediately. Now…” His gaze focused in on Lyra and he leaned forward. “How shall we celebrate, beautiful?”

Lyra smiled, though this one was certainly much less sweet. “Well, you two can discuss that while I go and powder my nose.”

Not giving any time for Garit to protest, she stood and walked off in the direction of the restrooms, though Garit watched her go with very pointed interest.

As Lyra walked away, Andrei’s eyes were on Garit rather than her. He soaked up the look of disappointment in the man’s expression, but hardly showed how much he was enjoying it.

“There’s something I would like to talk with you about. I am in need of your skills as a jeweler.” He said, quietly, “you’ve met my woman, and You know how amazing she is. I’m in need of an engagement ring that…matched her beauty and worth, if such a thing were possible. I would like it to be made with dalium-cobalt of the finest quality. Can you do that?”

The man’s attention returned to Andrei and he listened. He didn’t seem particularly disappointed with what Andrei was asking of him. “Ah, of course I can make a ring. I’m unfamiliar with what an ‘engagement ring’ is, however?”

“Do your people marry, Garit?” Andrei asked with a raised eyebrow, “promise to spend your life with one woman?”

Now that Andrei thought of it, it didn’t seem a very Sikarian thing to do. He wondered what their society must really be like.

He realized then what Andrei was talking about and then smiled. “Ah, I see. We do not do that here commonly, but some individuals do make that choice. It is admirable, I think, and must be rather difficult. It shows a certain strength in character. I will say even though we don’t partake in it, we love stories about such relationships and the deep romance that comes with them; it fascinates us.”

He leaned forward, slightly conspiratorial. “Tell me, what kind of jewelry does your woman like? And before you answer let me give you advice I give to every man - what kind of jewelry did she own before you gave her gifts. This is about her desire, yes?”

“The normal kind. How should I know?” Andrei said, a tinge of irritation in his voice. He reigned it in, though and smiled, “What I mean to say is, I don’t spend time evaluating her clothing. She looked beautiful, that’s what drew my attention. And with a body like hers, who could notice a few stones, right?”

Andrei punched Garit’s shoulder a bit too hard.

“You’ll have to tell me what you mean. On my world, men don’t learn the secrets of feminine beauty unless it’s their job.”

“Mmm… women like it when a man notices small details.” Garit pointed out, though whether it was meant as advice or a comment on a failing of Andrei’s wasn’t clear. “Does she like large stones? Thicker bands? Smaller jewels? Does she even like jewels at all?”

“Women like men who are men, and don’t spend their days brushing up on makeup tips.” Andrei said, matter-of-factly, and somehow almost friendly. “But I have noticed she prefers small and delicate over big and gaudy.”

Garit just chuckled and this time it did sound slightly patronizing, even more so when he shook his head and gave a dismissive wave of his hand to the young man. “Very well. Shall I send you some possible designs?”

“Yes, that would be wonderful.” Andrei said, disengaging from the conversation with some coldness. He descended into silence, done with this entire interaction. It had lost its interest completely.

Mercifully, it took only a few second of silence and then Lyra walked back into the room. She drew Garit’s attention immediately of course and gave a smile in response. Without apology, she moved to Andrei’s side and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Garit, I’m very sorry, but we need to return to our ship. There is an urgent matter that requires our attention.”

“Is there?” Andrei said, knowing it was total nonsense. He stood up immediately and pushed his chair in. “Thank you for the delicious meal, Garit. And it was a pleasure doing business with you.”

Andrei reached for the PADD Garit had and input the exact coordinate of the planet where they found the crystals.

“Good hunting. You will need a team of warriors to neutralize some of the wild life, but the reward will be great. If we hadn’t had to leave in such a hurry…” he said, thinking of the slave rebellion that had cost him his eye, ”…we would be much wealthier now.”

“I will keep that in mind, thank you.” Garit reached out to shake Andrei’s hand and then reached for Lyra’s to kiss her knuckles. He looked into her eyes while bent before her.

“Perhaps we will find time to celebrate later.”

“If other matters don’t keep me occupied.” Lyra replied and this time removed her hand from Garit. “Goodbye.”

She slid her arm into Andrei’s then so he could lead them out.

The two of them stepped out into the hallway together, and as soon as they were out, Andrei reached into his pocket and pressed his combadge.

“Vengeance, relocate us to our hotel.”

“Gods I need a shower.” Lyra quipped immediately after.

Then they disappeared in streaks of blue, leaving Garit to ponder what he had just experienced.

OFF